Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis University Field Hockey team will begin a four-game home stand with two matches this weekend, Friday at 3:00 pm against the Davidson Wildcats and Sunday at noon against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
Scouting Davidson
Davidson is off to a rocky start at 1-5. Its lone win thus far came against Merrimack, 3-2. In their five losses, the Wildcats have been outscored 15-2, four of which were shutouts. The match against Saint Francis will be Davidson's fifth away match amid a six-match road trip.
Statistically, the Davidson offense has struggled so far. With an average of less than one goal per game, the Wildcats have been outshot 89-59 (58-30 SOG) and have only tallied three assists compared to 11 by opponents. On defense, though, they have only allowed 2.83 goals per game and have a 71% team save percentage. Davidson will look to turn its defense into offense.
With a roster consisting of only three seniors, Davidson's five players with points are all juniors and sophomores. This season, its two leading scorers are junior McGee Roman and sophomore Julia Smith, who each have three points on one goal and one assist. Thought the Wildcats scoring has been dispersed well, there are no players with more than one in either category.
Davidson will anchor its defense with goalkeeper Sarah Zeszotarski, who has started all six games to begin the season. Though her record is 1-5, she has stopped 40 out of 57 shots and has put her team in good positions to win.
Series History: Tied 3-3
This will be the seventh matchup between these teams. The Red Flash is on a two-game winning streak against the Wildcats thanks to a 1-0 win last season and a 2-1 win in 2017. These teams have played every year since 2014 in A-10 competition and will continue that this year, in Saint Francis' final A-10 season.
Scouting Central Michigan
After starting the season 2-0, Central Michigan has lost five games in a row to bring their record down to 2-5. In its two wins, Central Michigan is outscoring opponents 7-1, but is being outscored in five losses 32-3. Three Chippewas losses have come to ranked teams in #8 Iowa, #11 Michigan and #12 Ohio State.
Central Michigan is being outshot this season by nearly 16 shots per game. The Red Flash will be in a good position to win if it can get more balls to the net than the Chippewas, something that both teams have had trouble with so far.
On offense, Central Michigan has gotten at least one point from nine different players. The leading scorer for the Chippewas is freshman midfielder Alice O'Hagan, who has scored four goals and one assist for nine points in seven games. Closely behind her is redshirt junior Samantha Glapinski, who has scored three times. Five of the other seven Chippewas scorers are juniors and seniors, so Central Michigan will be relying on experience to grab a win.
On defense, Central Michigan has been using the "goalie by committee" strategy. Senior goalkeeper Abigail Ebersole has only started two of seven matches but has racked up over 311 minutes of playing time, registering 40 saves for a 67% save percentage. Junior goalie Keelin Broeker has started five matches and played 90 minutes, totaling 17 saves and a 59% save percentage. Each has one win.
Series History: Saint Francis leads 2-0
This is the third season in a row these teams will meet, but only the third matchup in their history. Saint Francis won last year's meeting in Michigan in overtime, 4-3, with help from an Agustina Deharbe (Buenos Aires, Argentina/St. Catherine's Moorlands) goal. Two seasons ago, the Red Flash shut out the Chippewas, 4-0, with one goal coming from then-freshman Taylor Massage (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey).
Conference Play Begins
The match against Davidson will be the first A-10 match of the season for Saint Francis, followed by three nonconference matchups including Sunday's bout with Central Michigan. Next weekend, Saint Francis will host two more nonconference matches, then end the season with seven of the final nine games against A-10 opponents.
Scoring Distribution
Last weekend, Agustina Deharbe (Buenos Aires, Argentina/St. Catherine's Moorlands) joined Taylor Nesmith (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) as the second multi-goal scorer of the season for the Red Flash. Eight players have registered shots for the Red Flash, but Nesmith, Deharbe and Abby Romig (Honey Brook, Pa./Twin Valley) have combined for all team goals. Saint Francis will look to increase shooting percentages across the lineup and find a rhythm that builds momentum and chemistry.
Confidence
Though the Red Flash is still looking for its first win, Head Coach Betta Ceretta is staying optimistic in preparation for A-10 play:
"Conference games really matter, and being able to have our first one on our home field is very important – we need to take advantage of that. The games we've played so far should help us compete during our last year in the A-10."
Goalkeeper Claudia Marzec (Whitinsville, Mass./Moses Brown School) also expects strong performances from her team this weekend:
"A-10 is always a fun time, there's a lot more to lose now against our conference opponents. That is why we've played the hard games, in preparation for these."
A 1-0 start in A-10 play would be very significant for the Red Flash, who only plays an eight-match conference schedule.
